Orlando City
Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New England Revolution

It’s been over two weeks, but finally another Orlando City game is upon us. After resting up during the long layoff, Orlando will travel north to Foxborough to take on the New England Revolution.
A date with the Revs means that I took some time to catch up with Jake Catanese, one of the senior editors over at SBNation sister site The Bent Musket. As to be expected, Jake gave us some excellent insight into a Revs team that looks very different to the last time they faced off against the Lions.
Obviously, Adam Buksa is now headed to RC Lens. Bruce Arena recently spoke about how the Revs don’t plan on reinventing themselves, but how will Buksa be replaced?
Jake Catanese: In the short term, the Revs are going to go with Gustavo Bou up top as a lone striker with Jozy Altidore and Homegrown Justin Rennicks rounding out the depth chart. It’s entirely possible that New England is targeting another striker to join in the summer window, but we don’t have any specific names yet on the rumor mill. But if the Revs sign a Young DP-type player, they would be able to reinforce the roster with other U22 players like Dylan Borrero.
Tactically, the Revs will likely stick with a 4-2-3-1 and use an attacking midfield grouping of Carles Gil, Sebastian Lletget, and Borrero to support Bou as the lone striker. But Bou and Buksa are two very different strikers and the Revs won’t be able to generate the half and/or second chances they used to get from pumping in crosses into the box at Buksa. Bou, however, opens up more options for the Revs on the counter and already seems to have a solid chemistry going with Borrero, who joined the team at the end of the primary window in April and is starting to get minutes. Bruce, I think, is telling a half truth here, because while the formation might largely stay the same, the Revs are going to have to adjust how they attack in and around the box just because of how dominant Buksa was in the air. Short term, I think the Revs can rebound and make the playoffs this year, with or without a new option up top, but the long-term roster building and decisions after the World Cup in this off-season are far more interesting and important for the team going forward
Matt Turner is also headed out the door to Arsenal. Former Orlando City player Earl Edwards Jr. has gotten some games in goal this year and Djordje Petrovic started in the Revs’ win over Sporting Kansas City on Sunday. Do you know who will be starting going forward, or is that up in the air?
JC: Petrovic has been tabbed as the long-term starter and the team is very high on him, but Edwards did really well at the beginning of the year and could find himself on the bench and getting spot starts with veteran backup Brad Knighton at some point this year. The Revs were able to use their Open Cup games to get Petrovic acclimated to the team and he did really well in those games despite allowing an extra-time winner to NYCFC with a second- to third-choice lineup. Obviously there will be some let-off from the high standards Matt Turner has set in net the last few years, but as a pure shot stopper, you can see the talent Petrovic has in that department and the growth he likely will have as he develops other parts of his game under keeping guru Kevin Hitchcock. With draft pick Jacob Jackson at Revs II racking up shoutouts in the MLS NEXT Pro league, the Revs’ goalkeeping corps of Petrovic, Edwards, and Jackson seems to be set for the foreseeable future of the post-Matt Turner era.
New England is now on a six-game unbeaten streak stretching all the way back to April. What’s been key to New England getting results during this run?
JC: Simply, the Revs have just been healthy, especially at the back of the formation. Henry Kessler missed the win in Kansas City but had featured regularly next to Andrew Farrell, and the return of Matt Turner, however brief in MLS play, bolstered a back line that was very, very leaky at the beginning of the year and still should be doing a little better. One of the things the Revs did so well last year was grab not just late results but late wins like they did in Kansas City on Sunday. They had a chance to steal three points late against Columbus last month with a Buksa goal only to concede an equalizer right before stoppage time. While I don’t always want to rely on late-game heroics, the Revs weren’t big on blowing teams out last year and were able to find ways to close out games and they have been less than stellar in that area this year.
Overall, the Revs have had a lot of moving pieces, which is to be expected from a Supporters Shield-winning team that has sold three of its top players in Tajon Buchanan, Buksa, and Turner. As the Revs settle in and get healthier, there’s every reason to think their consistency and results will continue to improve.
Are there any players who will be unavailable for selection due to injuries, suspensions, or international duty? What is your projected starting lineup and score prediction?
JC: Matt Turner will still be with the USMNT and his last game before his Arsenal move will be this weekend against Minnesota for a Gillette swan song. Henry Kessler and Sebastian Lletget missed the Sporting KC game, but both could be available for the busy upcoming week. Omar Gonzalez left the SKC game with a knock, so it could be Jon Bell and Andrew Farrell at center back with Ben Reveno as a depth option for that spot.
4-2-3-1: Djordje Petrovic; DeJuan Jones, Jon Bell, Andrew Farrell, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster, Maciel; Dylan Borrero, Carles Gil, Sebastian Lletget; Gustavo Bou.
With the Revs chasing Orlando in the East, my guess is we see the best lineup Bruce Arena can muster, with a lot of regulars and not a lot of rotation from Sunday. We saw Borrero and Bou combine really well for a goal in Kansas City, but I am really interested to see the attacking midfield setup with both Borrero and Lletget on either side of Carles Gil. Both players are really good on the ball and see the field well, and can operate out wide or in the middle, depending on the situation and could really cause issues for defenses having to account for late runs.
I like the Revs at home to get back on the right side of the playoff line, I think another 2-1 win for New England.
Thanks again to Jake for catching us up on New England. Vamos Orlando!

Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/23/25
Pride fall to Racing Louisville, Seb Hines and Giles Barnes share insight on path to success in Orlando, USMNT defeats Haiti, and more.

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy working and catching up with friends over the past week. Before we get started, let’s wish a belated happy birthday to Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter, who turned 41 on Saturday. The Pride was the lone team in action over the weekend, while the Lions and OCB were off. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.
Pride Fall at Racing Louisville
The Orlando Pride fell to Racing Louisville 2-0 Friday at Lynn Family Stadium. Arin Wright scored the opening goal in the first half, and former Pride midfielder Taylor Flint converted a penalty kick for Racing Louisville. The Pride struggled offensively and failed to capitalize on their scoring chances. Orlando’s struggles in Louisville continue, as the club is winless in five matches at Lynn Family Stadium. The Pride will be on a long break, and their next match will be Aug. 3, taking on the Utah Royals at Inter&Co Stadium.
Seb Hines, Giles Barnes Share Insight on Path to Success in Orlando
Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines and Assistant Coach Giles Barnes were featured in an interview in The Guardian. Both Hines and Barnes shared insight into their longtime friendship, which began with playing in English youth international camps, their different paths to playing in Major League Soccer, and how they became involved in coaching. Hines discussed his time as interim manager of the Pride in 2022 and how he brought in Barnes to help change the club’s culture. Hines and Barnes helped change the perception of the club and led the Pride to winning both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship last season.
USMNT Defeats Haiti to Win Group D in Gold Cup
The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Haiti 2-1 Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, in their final match in the group stage of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. The USMNT finished atop its group with three wins and nine points. Orlando City defender Alex Freeman made his third consecutive start and played 90 minutes.
Malik Tillman scored the opening goal 10 minutes into the match to give the USMNT the early lead. Haiti tied the match not long after Tillman’s goal. In the second half, Patrick Agyemang pulled the USMNT back in front. The USMNT advances to the quarterfinals as the group winner and will play its next match Sunday against the Group A runner-up which was the late game Sunday night and had yet to conclude as of this writing.
Club World Cup Weekend Recap
Another weekend of matches from the FIFA Club World Cup is in the books. On Friday, Benfica crushed Auckland City FC 6-0, while Flamengo beat Chelsea 3-1. LAFC was eliminated from advancing to the knockout round after a 1-0 defeat to ES Tunis. Bayern Munich edged Boca Juniors 2-1. On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund defeated Mamelodi Sundowns 4-3. Inter Milan needed a late stoppage-time winning goal from Valentin Carboni to edge Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1. Fluminense beat Ulsan HD 4-2, and River Plate and Monterrey ended in a scoreless draw. On Sunday, Juventus cruised to a 4-1 win over Wydad Casablanca. Xabi Alonso secured his first win as manager of Real Madrid with a 3-1 victory against Pachuca. Red Bull Salzburg and Al-Hilal played to a scoreless draw, with Manchester City playing Al-Ain in the late match Sunday. Today’s matches feature Atletico Madrid facing Botafogo, the Seattle Sounders hosting Paris Saint-Germain, FC Porto vs. Al Ahly, and Inter Miami taking on Palmeiras.
Free Kicks
- Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Lemos and forward Simone Jackson have been called-up to the U-23 U.S. Women’s National Team. The U-23 camp will be led by Orlando Pride Assistant Coach Yolanda Thomas.
USL Championship side San Antonio FC has signed former Orlando City defender Abdi Salim to a 25-day contract.
San Diego Wave winger Maria Sanchez has reportedly reach an agreement to return to her former club, Tigres of Liga MX Femenil, on a four-year contract.
Paul Pogba is reportedly set to return to playing soccer and has signed a two-year contract with Ligue 1 side AS Monaco.
That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.
Opinion
Orlando City Has Been Better than Expected Halfway Through the Season
While there was plenty to worry about at the start of the season, Orlando has had a good first half of 2025.

With 18 matches in the books, we’ve moved just past the halfway point of the 2025 Major League Soccer season, and based off my feelings before Orlando City played its opening game of the season, the Lions have performed above expectations so far. There were plenty of valid reasons to be concerned heading into the year. Orlando had sold its all-time leading goal scorer, and there were questions about whether he’d been adequately replaced. There were worries about depth at multiple positions, and the defense was coming off an uncharacteristically poor year. Here we are though, with the Lions sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference, just three points out of second place and seven points out of first. So how did we get to this point?
For one thing, Marco Pasalic has been much better than I (and I think a lot of other people) expected him to be. The Croatian has six goals and four assists across 18 matches, and is second on the team in both categories. He scored 10 goals in 49 appearances in the Croatian first division before coming to Orlando and was extremely one-footed, which was enough evidence to sow real doubt about whether he could adequately replace the impact of Facundo Torres.
So far, it’s mostly been so good. His direct style of play is a good complement to the styles of Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel, and he’s largely hit the ground running in a league that can be difficult to adapt to. It hasn’t been perfect, as he’s still very one-footed, and can sometimes disappear if he’s stringently man marked, but on the whole there’s been much more good than bad.
Speaking of Ojeda and Muriel, they’ve also had strong years. Ojeda in particular has continued his great second half of the 2024 season and has nine goals and five assists in 18 games to show for it. He looks fast, confident, and decisive and is a far cry from the player who struggled frequently during his first year as a Lion. Muriel has cooled off a little after a scorching start to 2025, but he still has six goals and three assists in 18 matches. He looks vastly improved from last year, when he looked a little off the pace of play and quickly lost the starting striker role. He still has a tendency to not be as selfish as he needs to be in front of goal, but he’s been much better than 2024.
I mentioned depth being a big concern, and not just at one position. At the beginning of the season Orlando City was, and arguably still is, thin at striker, center back, defensive midfield, and fullback. Duncan McGuire was injured to start the year and is now injured again, leaving Orlando with two true strikers in Muriel and Ramiro Enrique. There was no true backup left back, only one reliable backup center back, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson starting at right back meant that defensive midfield depth consisted of rookie Joran Gerbet and the Swiss army knife that is Kyle Smith.
Things have mostly worked out though. David Brekalo has supplanted Rafael Santos, meaning the Brazilian is now a proven backup option at the position, and Smith has filled in there as well. That means that in games in which Rodrigo Schlegel or Robin Jansson are unavailable, Brekalo fills in at center back, Santos starts at left back, and Smith is the backup for both positions, so it isn’t a flawless system. Gerbet has been playing better and better and got some valuable minutes when Eduard Atuesta and Cesar Araujo were unavailable. His emergence has been a crucial piece of the puzzle this year. So too has the rise of Alex Freeman, as his locking down the right back role has allowed Thorhallsson to fill in at defensive midfield, attacking midfield, and right back. The situation isn’t perfect, as a couple untimely injuries to the wrong guys would leave the Lions looking pretty threadbare, but so far it’s just about worked.
Another big concern was the defense. The Lions conceded 50 goals in the regular season last year, which was tied for the second-most of any Eastern Conference playoff team and fourth-most of any playoff team. With no defensive signings and the aforementioned depth concerns, there were plenty of reasons to worry about Orlando’s ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net.
Things have looked much better in 2025, though. The 22 goals OCSC has conceded are the fifth-fewest in the league, and Pedro Gallese’s eight clean sheets are tied for most in the league. Aside from a few egregious defensive performances against the Philadelphia Union, Atlanta United, and the Chicago Fire, things have mostly been tidy at the back, and when they haven’t been, El Pulpo has been around to pick up the slack. Again, things haven’t been perfect, as there have been moments where individual and collective errors have hurt the team, but it’s been better.
I thought the Lions would struggle this year. Going into the start of the season, we were talking about a team that lost Torres, arguably didn’t do enough to strengthen the team across the board, was facing depth issues, and was dealing with a leaky defense — all while pretty much every other contender in the East got stronger on paper. Instead, OCSC tied a club-best unbeaten streak and is just three points out of second place.
That being said, the East is so tight that Orlando is only five points above the playoff line, and injuries to the wrong guys could easily topple the fragile ecosystem that is the depth chart, but so far things are going better than I thought they would be. There are still a lot of matches to play, but this isn’t a bad position to be in at the halfway mark.
Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/20/25
Orlando Pride take on Racing Louisville FC tonight, Orlando Pride players called up by Zambia, USMNT beats Saudi Arabia, and more.

Happy Friday! June continues to fly by as we enjoy the buffet of soccer here in the U.S. this month. I’ll be spending most of the weekend working, but I am hoping to get some reading done after being gifted some books for my birthday. But enough about me, let’s jump right into today’s links!
Orlando Pride Face Racing Louisville Tonight
The Orlando Pride are on the road tonight for a match against Racing Louisville FC at 8 p.m. in the final game before a league break until August. Going into the break with four straight wins would be nice for the Pride, but they’ve struggled at Lynn Family Stadium over the years. Louisville enters this match following a 4-2 loss to the league-leading Kansas City Current and has scored eight goals over the past three games. Orlando’s defense has been phenomenal this year, conceding just eight goals this season and only one during this win streak. Midfielder Cori Dyke spoke on how the team is finding its groove and shutting out opponents.
Zambia Calls Up Orlando Pride Trio
Barbra Banda, Grace Chanda, and Prisca Chilufya were all called up for Zambia’s CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations roster ahead of this summer’s tournament. Banda has eight goals this season with the Pride and had four goals at last year’s Olympics, including a hat trick against Australia. The Copper Queens claimed third place in the 2022 edition of this tournament, and they’ll need to be at their best to win this summer against tough opponents like South Africa and Nigeria. Zambia’s tournament campaign will kick off on July 5 against the host nation, Morocco.
USMNT Beats Saudi Arabia to Qualify for Quarterfinals
The United States Men’s National Team won 1-0 against Saudi Arabia to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals of this year’s Concacaf Gold Cup. After a scoreless first half, the Yanks broke through in the 63rd minute thanks to a free kick. Sebastian Berhalter served the ball on a silver platter to Chris Richards, who buried it for the crucial goal. The defense did well to secure its second shutout of the tournament, with Orlando City’s Alex Freeman starting at right back yet again. The USMNT will play Haiti on Sunday and should be able to win the group for a smoother path in the knockout stage.
FIFA Club World Cup Roundup
An MLS club finally won a game during this year’s FIFA Club World Cup, with Inter Miami beating Porto 2-1 in Atlanta. Lionel Messi scored the winner from a free kick to complete the comeback after conceding an early goal. The Seattle Sounders had a rougher day, falling 3-1 to Atletico Madrid, with Pablo Barrios scoring a brace. Former Lion Facundo Torres started for Palmeiras in the Brazilian club’s 2-0 win over Egypt’s Al Ahly.
Today’s action features more soccer at Inter&Co Stadium, with Benfica and Auckland City squaring off in the City Beautiful. Our Michael Citro will be on hand to report on it. Elsewhere in the U.S., Chelsea will take on Flamengo, LAFC will face ES Tunis, and Bayern Munich will play Boca Juniors.
Free Kicks
- Canada Head Coach Jesse Marsch, who is already serving a suspension for misconduct during the Nations League, is under investigation by Concacaf for incidents during this Gold Cup. Reports detail that Marsch disregarded regulations and used offensive language toward match officials.
- Kylian Mbappe was discharged from the hospital after suffering from a case of gastroenteritis. It’s unclear if or when he’ll play for Real Madrid during the Club World Cup.
- Carlos Cuesta was hired as Parma’s next head coach after five years with Arsenal as an assistant coach. The 29-year-old becomes the second-youngest coach in Serie A history.
- Manchester City was fined over $1 million by the English Premier League for repeated delays regarding kickoff times.
That’s all I have for you all today. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!
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